Gloss How-To: Use Apple’s “Ping” Social Network on iTunes

Steve Jobs’ bare neck wasn’t the only major unveiling at yesterday’s Apple media event. Revamped iPods, updates for iOS 4.1, an iTunes overhaul and the long-rumored Apple TV were also announced but for me, the presentation for Ping, Apple’s new social network for music, was the most exciting. (Jobs’ missing turtleneck, a close second.)

With Ping, music-lovers can follow their friends and favorite artists to discover what music people are talking about, listening to, and downloading. Users can listen to music recommended by their favorite artists and friends, watch exclusive artist videos, create customized Top 10 playlists and access to more than 17,000 concert listings.

A music-centric “Facebook and Twitter meets iTunes” (as described by Jobs) that updates my feeds with cool music instead people’s Farmville status, and lets you follow your friends and favorite artists? Sounds cool, no? So how do you get started?

MORE on GLOSS: An Overview of the Apple Keynote Event: New iPods, Apple TV, iTunes Social Network

Get iTunes 10

First, you’ll have to install the new iTunes 10 – download it for free at apple.com/itunes. The music service got a huge overhaul with this latest update so don’t be shocked if the new iTunes almost looks unrecognizable. Not only has the iTunes  logo been changed, but your library now includes Hybrid View, a feature that shows album artwork within your playlist. (For some, I’m sure this is a cool add-on but since I lack album art, the feature is more annoying and obtrusive than anything.)

Once iTunes 10 has been installed, open iTunes and find the new Ping link that’s right above your Playlists. If you double click on the link, Ping will pop-out as a separate window, which is helpful if you’re on Ping but want to do stuff in your iTunes library. You’ll be prompted to sign-in using an Apple ID or AOL account – if you don’t have either, you can easily set up an Apple ID for free.

After logging in, you can upload a profile photo and fill-in the basic “About Me” section. To help Ping get a better sense of your musical tastes, click the “Genres I Like” button to choose your top 3 favorites. Your playlists, downloads and songs played in iTunes or on your iPhone/iPod Touch will also be used to help make artist and album recommendations. (This feature will get better once there’s more user content.)

Privacy Settings

Scroll down and you’ll find these privacy settings options:

1. Allow people to follow me. Your activity (including music purchases) would be visible to everyone and anyone can follow you.

1.5. If you allow people to follow, you can choose this option: Require approval to follow me. Your name, photo and where you live will be visible to everyone. Only people you approve will be able to follow you and see complete profile information and activity (including music purchases.)

2. Don’t allow people to follow me. You can follow others but no one can follow you. Your name and photo will appear for some actions, such as writing reviews or adding comments.

You can also scroll down and specify how you want ‘Music I Like’ to be displayed on your profile. Ping is available now on your desktop with iTunes, as well as the iPhone and iPod Touch.

Find Favorite Artists and Friends to Follow

Like Twitter, following your favorite artists and friends on Ping is easy. In iTunes, open ‘Ping’ to see the artists that have been recommended for you follow, based on your playlists and listening habits in iTunes or on your iPhone/iPod Touch. You can also see your favorite artist’s status updates, photos, exclusive videos and even check out what songs they’re listening to lately.

If you know someone already on Ping, use the ‘Search For People or Artists’ function located at the top of the Ping homepage to search for them by name. Invite more friends to Ping by sending email invites, or by connecting to your Facebook account.

Stay Up to Date on Who, What, When and Where with the ’Recent Activity’ Feed

Stay connected with the ‘Recent Activity’ feed, a list of updates showing what friends, artists, and celebrities are up to on iTunes that can be found on your Ping homepage. Find out what others are listening to, who they’re talking about, and what their favorite artists have been up to lately, all on one page. If you want to check up on a specific person, just click on their name to view their recent activities.

Preview 30-second clips of songs recommended by your friends and if you like it, you can download the full version with just a click. Any song or music video on iTunes can also be sent to a friend as a gift, added to your wishlist, or shared on your Facebook and Twitter accounts. To further expand your music tastes and library, you can click on an album to see what other fans are listening to.

“Like” and “Post”

If you do find something cool, share it with your friends and followers by clicking ‘Like.’ You can also recommend a song, album, or friend’s status update – and add comments – with the ‘Post’ button. The ‘Like’ and ‘Post’ options appear in iTunes right below the album image, and on people’s profile page under the Ping menu near the upper left corner,  as well as with the posts and status updates in your Recent Activity feed.

With Ping, the whole artist/fan interaction is pretty cool. For example, one my favorite bands Weezer liked an album by another favorite band — I was able to ‘Like’ it, too, right on their page. Totally silly but also slightly validating… Fans can also leave comments on an artist’s status update, photos or videos. (Once more content is added, this feature will get better!)

Music purchases or reviews that you’ve written will automatically be shared on your feed with everyone who follows you. When you browse the iTunes store, you’ll also be able to see if any of your friends have purchased a song or written a review for the particular album you’re looking at. Another interesting function is “Charts,” which will pull up a brief list of top songs and albums that have been purchased by the people you follow.

Keep in mind that anything you ‘Like,’ ‘Post’ or purchase will show up in your Recent Activity feed for others to see unless you’ve set your profile to be private. (More on this below.)

Find Upcoming Concerts

Whenever you follow an artist, Ping will automatically recommend any upcoming concerts from that artist, and will even tell you which of your friends are planning to go, too. If you want to look for shows for specific artist, click ‘Concerts’ from their artist page in the iTunes Store — 17,000+ have already been posted!

One More Thing…

After installing iTunes 10, I spent a little time on Ping to check it out.  Since it launched yesterday evening, I haven’t accumulated any followers yet but thanks to my usual listening habits, this what my Recent Activity feed would have sent to them if I had any:

I still maintain that Rick Astley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up” is nothing short of awesome but since Ping’s default settings broadcast every ‘Like,’ ‘Post,’ (more on those below) and download to friends and followers, a public mocking would be inevitable, considering the other less meme-y songs on my playlist. So, for those of us who indulge in music’s uh, guiltier pleasures, I’d suggest restricting your profile, being careful when submitting album reviews, and the fact that you own all four of Kajagoogoo’s studio albums - may be best to keep that to yourself…

‘Ping’ Overall

There are a few lackluster elements such as awkward page navigation and a limited number of artists with Ping profiles currently signed up (this will hopefully change though), but once more people join and there’s more user content, Ping could mean major competition for networks like Facebook and Twitter – with or without geo-location services. (Ping currently does not support any location-based services.)

According to Jobs, when Ping launched last night, the service was immediately available to more than 160 million iTunes users in 23 countries! But even with a huge built-in customer base, who knows if it will catch on? (Right, Google Buzz?)

It’s too early to tell since the cooler features of the service require more user content but I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed that Ping will be a big success!

Will you be using Ping or have you tried it yet? Ping users: Think this will replace your other social network accounts or will it just be another one on your list? What’s the most embarrassing “guilty pleasure” song you can think of?

Tech questions, ideas or suggestions? E-mail us at geekgloss@mygloss.com!